New MTU remanufacturing and overhaul center opens in South Carolina

Rolls-Royce Power Systems CEO Joerg Stratmann addressed employees during the opening ceremony for the new remanufacturing and overhaul center at the company’s MTU Aiken campus in South Carolina. [Phoyo: Rolls-Royce Power Solutions]

Representing what Rolls-Royce Power Systems says is “a low double-digit million dollar investment,” the company has opened a new remanufacturing and overhaul center at its MTU Aiken site in South Carolina.

The new 69,000 square foot (6,400 square meter) facility is connected to the existing manufacturing operations at MTU Aiken. It brings formerly outsourced workshop and warehouse operations in-house and expands them to provide remanufacturing and overhaul of MTU Series 2000 and Series 4000 engines and Detroit Diesel two-stroke engines and components, plus internal and external rework services.

Initially focused on parts remanufacturing for after sales support, the facility is targeted to remanufacture 20,000 parts per year once fully operational, greatly improving spare part availability and customer support in the region.

“We have more than 150,000 engines in the field and our service business is growing,” said Dr Jörg Stratmann, CEO, Rolls-Royce Power Systems. “Service is not just maintenance and repair, but also upgrades, remanufacturing and digital services for predictive maintenance. Our customers trust us, and we want to fulfil this trust throughout the product lifecycle and into the next. To achieve this, excellent service is essential – and our remanufacturing and overhaul center in Aiken will be a main pillar for serving our customers in the Americas.”

SUSTAINABILITY

Rolls-Royce notes that remanufacturing offers a wise lifecycle investment for customers, returning equipment to like-new condition and resulting in lower acquisition, maintenance, and operation costs. It is also a smart choice for sustainability; reusing existing equipment and components to save on raw materials and energy consumption compared to new engine manufacturing. It creates a circular economy, where instead of disposing of an engine or component at the end of its useful life, they are overhauled giving them a second or even third life.

“Remanufacturing is yet another part of our energy transition and sustainability story,” said Stratmann. “With engines approved to run on sustainable fuels, we are significantly reducing emissions, and with remanufacturing we can get a second, third or even fourth lifetime from basically the same raw materials. It’s a total story of emissions and consumption reduction.”

The new remanufacturing and overhaul center in Aiken will follow proven processes and procedures already established in global plant locations such as the facility in Magdeburg, Germany. This very thorough process ensures used engines and assemblies are fully disassembled, cleaned, and inspected, and then reworked and reassembled using new or remanufactured parts to replace any outdated, worn, or damaged components.

Since its opening in the fall of 2010, the MTU Aiken campus has been the site of continuous innovation, investment, and expansion. What began with the production of MTU Series 2000 and Series 4000 engines, has grown to include the assembly of military engines, the machining of parts and even the production of energy through its solar field and microgrid.

With an onsite research and development center and now a new remanufacturing and overhaul center, says Rolls-Royce, the MTU Aiken campus covers the full circle of life for an MTU engine – from concept to second life (i.e. overhaul).